One
of the things that differentiates the Roman Catholic Church from the churches
of our Protestant brothers and sisters is our vow of celibacy – we have
priests, deacons and religious – men and women who take a vow at ordination or
religious profession, who by their own choice, opt to remain unmarried. Rather than something we are proud of, this seems
to be something many find quaint, or antiquated, and it’s even often a dividing
line, among Catholics. I hear quite
frequently, haven’t you? “If only the
Church would get with it and let there be married priests…” And some might ask, why? Why is that?
And implicitly, one might wonder “Does the Church have something against
marriage?
We
find the answers in Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel, where the Lord affirms BOTH
the married state AND the unmarried state.
In this Gospel, Jesus teaches us very
clearly that marriage is to be a lifelong relationship of a man and a woman, a one-flesh
union that none may separate. And Jesus
says that this is “from the beginning” – it points back to the creation, to how
we are made. Made for the permanent,
one-flesh union of man and woman. And as
St. Paul clarifies in his letter to the Ephesians (which we will read not this
Sunday but next), the lifelong union of a man and a woman is to be a symbol to
the world of the relationship of Christ and the Church – a sign of life-giving
love and fidelity and mutual sacrifice.
So there is no question that our creator, the author of our sexuality,
is pro-marriage!
But
at the end of today’s Gospel, He is speaking of the celibate life –
those who choose to “renounce” marriage, who choose not to marry, for
the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The vowed celibate, by his or her life, “consecrates himself or herself
with undivided heart to the Lord for the affairs of the Lord” as the Catechism
teaches us. And the celibate points us to
the next life – to the eternal relationship with Christ in heaven. It is a sign to the world that our ultimate
destiny is the next world, the eternal one, not this passing world,
where Jesus tells us we will neither marry nor be given in marriage.
And
we live in a world in which the focus seems to be carpe diem – seize the
day! A world preoccupied on worldly
matters and concerns, a world worried about yesterday and tomorrow, but a world
that refuses to acknowledge or even think about death and what follows. That we have men and women who freely choose
to forsake marriage to be a witness in this world of the world to come is a
great blessing to us all. It is an
uncommon demonstration of great faith as well as great grace.
So
let us be profoundly thankful for the gift to us of
our celibate priests, deacons and women religious. And let us pray for them that they may be
ever more perfect and faithful symbols of our eternal destiny with Christ Our
Lord, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment